Sambal Hae Bee (Spicy Dried Shrimps or Udang Kering)

We usually serve Sambal Hae Bee (Spicy Dried Shrimps or Udang Kering) as a condiment with steamed rice with raw cucumber or sprinkled over white rice porridge.
I remembered that when I was younger, I used to help my mama by pounding dry shrimps, shallots, chillies, all separately, using pestle and mortar. And then standing over a wok, stirring the mixture constantly till it becomes dry and fragrant and then having a sore arm for days. It was hard work preparing it but I didn’t mind coz the result of my effort was always some delicious Sambal Hae Bee (Spicy Dried Shrimps or Udang Kering) condiment.
I got the estimated recipe from my mama but she assured me that it’s a totally flexible recipe, a bit more or less will not make it unedible or taste bad, just slightly different. It’s also easily adaptable to suit your taste buds.

Steps were simplified and I have used very minimum amount of cooking oil in the recipe since most families have non-stick pans and food processor at home. Only compromise was to roughly blend the dried shrimps and then pounding them in a pestle and mortar, just to break them up some.

Ingredients:

250g dried shrimps

2 lemongrass, white and pale green section only

5 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

15 dried chillies, deseeded, soaked with water and drained

1-2 tbsp sunflower or peanut oil

1 cm cube belacan (shrimp paste) or 1 tbsp belacan powder – optional

sugar and salt, to taste

Preparation:

Put dried shrimps in a bowl, wash with water several times and leave in clean water to soak till soft, abt 20-30 mins. Drain and set aside.